• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.1414-1422
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• 2017

Remote response technology has advanced to the extent that a robot system, if properly designed and deployed, may greatly help respond to beyond-design-basis accidents at nuclear power plants. Particularly in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident, there is increasing interest in developing disaster robots that can be deployed in lieu of a human operator to the field to perform mitigating actions in the harsh environment caused by extreme natural hazards. The nuclear robotics team of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is also endeavoring to construct disaster robots and, first of all, is interested in finding out to what extent safety benefits can be achieved by such a disaster robotic system. This paper discusses a new approach based on the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) technique, which can be used to quantify safety benefits associated with disaster robots, along with a case study for seismic-induced station blackout condition. The results indicate that to avoid core damage in this special case a robot system with reliability > 0.65 is needed because otherwise core damage is inevitable. Therefore, considerable efforts are needed to improve the reliability of disaster robots, because without assurance of high reliability, remote response techniques will not be practically used.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.213-219
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• 2018

In this paper, we introduce a target position reasoning system based on Bayesian network that selects destinations of robots on a map to explore compound disaster environments. Compound disaster accidents have hazardous conditions because of a low visibility and a high temperature. Before firefighters enter the environment, the robots notify information in advance, such as victim's positions, number of victims, and status of debris of building. The problem of the previous system is that the system requires a target position to operate the robots and the firefighter need to learn how to use the robot. However, selecting the target position is not easy because of the information gap between eyewitness accounts and map coordinates. In addition, learning the technique how to use the robots needs a lot of time and money. The proposed system infers the target area using Bayesian network and selects proper x, y coordinates on the map based on image processing methods of the map. To verify the proposed system, we designed three example scenarios based on eyewetinees testimonies and compared time consumption between human and the system. In addition, we evaluate the system usability by 40 subjects.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.160-166
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• 2021

In this study, we aim to develop a scenario for educational utilization of disaster response robots that can be used at fire sites and analyze the effectiveness of scenarios according to robot utilization education. Our scenarios were developed based on direction, reality, and rationality determined through the use of a questionnaire survey distributed to current firefighters. In addition, the educational utilization of disaster response robots and training effectiveness were analyzed through repetitive robot control training by a robot development team, current firefighters, and college students. Robot control was divided into direct control, monitor control, and simulation control, and tests were carried out five times. As a result of the analysis of the robot control test, the average time spent for each group was 28 seconds for college students, followed by development teams (30second) and incumbent firefighters (38second). According to the individual analysis results, firefighters (maximum 35second) in direct control, the development team (maximum 14second) in monitor control, and firefighters (maximum 22second) in simulation control showed the effect of shortening control time. These results show that robot control education and training is necessary for robots to be used more effectively at disaster sites.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.941-948
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• 2022

Disaster response robots are deployed to disaster sites where human access is difficult and dangerous. The disaster response robots explore the disaster sites prevent a structural collapse and perform lifesaving to minimize damage. It is difficult to operate robots in the disaster sites due to rough terrains where various obstacles are scattered, communication failures and invisible environments. In this paper, we developed a series connectable wheeled robot module. The series connectable wheeled robot module was developed into two types: an active driven robot module and a passive driven robot module. A wheeled robot was built by connecting the two active type robot modules and one passive type robot module. Two robot modules were connected by one DoF rotating joint, allowing the wheeled robot to avoid obstructions in a vertical direction. The wheeled robot performed driving and obstacle avoidance using only pressure sensors, which allows the wheeled robot operate in the invisible environment. An obstacle avoidance experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of the wheeled robot consisting of two active driven wheeled robot modules and one passive driven wheeled robot module. The wheeled robot successfully avoided step-shaped obstacles with a maximum height of 80 mm in a time of 24.5 seconds using only a pressure sensors, which confirms that the wheeled robot possible to perform the driving and the obstacle avoidance in invisible environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.114-130
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of increasing the efficiency of disaster relief rescue operations through collaboration among multiple aerial and ground robots. The robots create 2.5D maps, which are merged into a 2.5D map. The 2.5D map can be handled by a low-specification controller of an aerial robot and is suitable for ground robot navigation. For localization of the aerial robot, a six-degree-of-freedom pose recognition method using VIO was applied. To build a 2.5D map, an image conversion technique was employed. In addition, to merge 2.5D maps, an image similarity calculation technique based on the features on a wall was used. Localization and navigation were performed using a ground robot to evaluate the reliability of the 2.5D map. As a result, it was possible to estimate the location with an average and standard error of less than 0.3 m for the place where the 2.5D map was normally built, and there were only four collisions for the obstacle with the smallest volume. Based on the 2.5D map building and map merging system for the aerial robot used in this study, it is expected that disaster response work efficiency can be improved by combining the advantages of heterogeneous robots.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_3
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• pp.1827-1836
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• 2022

Disasters that occur unexpectedly are difficult to predict. In addition, the scale and damage are increasing compared to the past. Sometimes one disaster can develop into another disaster. Among the four stages of disaster management, search and rescue are carried out in the response stage when an emergency occurs. Therefore, personnel such as firefighters who are put into the scene are put in at a lot of risk. In this respect, in the initial response process at the disaster site, robots are a technology with high potential to reduce damage to human life and property. In addition, Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) can acquire a relatively wide range of 3D information using a laser. Due to its high accuracy and precision, it is a very useful sensor when considering the characteristics of a disaster site. Therefore, in this study, development and experiments were conducted so that the robot could perform real-time monitoring at the disaster site. Multi-sensor module was developed by combining LiDAR, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor, and computing board. Then, this module was mounted on the robot, and a customized Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm was developed. A method for stably mounting a multi-sensor module to a robot to maintain optimal accuracy at disaster sites was studied. And to check the performance of the module, SLAM was tested inside the disaster building, and various SLAM algorithms and distance comparisons were performed. As a result, PackSLAM developed in this study showed lower error compared to other algorithms, showing the possibility of application in disaster sites. In the future, in order to further enhance usability at disaster sites, various experiments will be conducted by establishing a rough terrain environment with many obstacles.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.1205-1212
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• 2021

Robots that can actually help people a lot by dealing with dangerous tasks that are difficult for people to do, such as disaster situations, lifesaving, handling dangerous goods, and reconnaissance of dangerous areas, continue to become an issue. Therefore, in this paper, we intend to implement a mobile robot arm that can implement a human motion will on the robot arm to enable active response according to the situation and control the vehicle according to hand movements to give mobility. A controller is manufactured using a flex sensor and agyro sensor, and the roll and pitch values of the two gyro sensors are adjusted to control the angle of the robot arm and specify the vehicle direction. In addition, by designating the levels of the three flex sensors, the motor is operated according to hand movements, and a robot arm is implemented so that objects can be picked up and moved.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.77-85
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• 2024

In this dissertation, a we designed and implemented a patrol robot that integrates a thermal imaging camera, speed dome camera, PTZ camera, radar, lidar sensor, and smartphone. This robot has the ability to monitor and respond efficiently even in complex environments, and is especially designed to demonstrate high performance even at night or in low visibility conditions. An orbital movement system was selected for the robot's mobility, and a smartphone-based control system was developed for real-time data processing and decision-making. The combination of various sensors allows the robot to comprehensively perceive the environment and quickly detect hazards. Thermal imaging cameras are used for night surveillance, speed domes and PTZ cameras are used for wide-area monitoring, and radar and LIDAR are used for obstacle detection and avoidance. The smartphone-based control system provides a user-friendly interface. The proposed robot system can be used in various fields such as security, surveillance, and disaster response. Future research should include improving the robot's autonomous patrol algorithm, developing a multi-robot collaboration system, and long-term testing in a real environment. This study is expected to contribute to the development of the field of intelligent surveillance robots.